Cinderella
Cinderella is the featured character in a folktale which dates as far back as the 1630s. Over the centuries, the best known versions have been written and developed by the likes of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney. The story continues to inspire artists. It was conceived as a made for television musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, while Stephen Sondheim included Cinderella as one of the principal storylines in his Broadway musical Into the Woods. Vince Gill and The Cheetah Girls have even recorded songs inspired by the rags to riches tale. Portrayals * In Hey Cinderella!, Belinda Montgomery plays the perpetually persecuted house-cleaner from the fairy tale that bears her name. She loves Arthur, the king's gardener, without knowing he's actually Prince Arthur Charming. She has a dog, Rufus, who helps her with the dishes and snarls at her Stepmother. * CinderElmo is a rare telling of the story with a male in the lead role, played by Elmo. * Miss Piggy became Cinderella in Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration with a little help from her ""fairy god-thing" (Gonzo). * Baby Piggy imagines herself as Cinderella in the third season Muppet Babies episode, "Pigerella." Sesame Street * On Sesame Street, Cinderella is usually portrayed by a Lavender Anything Muppet. Cinderella's stories have been chronicled in a number of Sesame Street News Flash segments. She was performed by Jerry Nelson, and in one sketch by Pam Arciero. * Episode 2708 tells the story of "Ginarella" with Gina in the title role. * In Episode 2990, Flo Bear rewrites the story for Telly Monster as "CinderTelly." * Cinderella (this time a Large Lavender Anything Muppet) and her Fairy Godmother (played by Andrea Martin) visit Sesame Street in Episode 4061. * Cinderella is briefly seen in Episode 4087, brushing off Telly's request for a Monster on the Spot interview. * Episode 4101 features Elmo, Zoe, and Baby Bear playing with a ball that is actually Cinderella. Her Fairy Godmother accidentally turned her into a ball instead of sending her to the ball. The godmother restores Cinderella to her normal self (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo), albeit with a frazzled appearance and a headache from being thrown around. Through yet another mix-up, the fairy godmother sends the trio to the Prince's ball with Cinderella. * Cinderella appears in a Word of the Day segment with Pau Gasol in need of a great (basketball) coach. Here, she was played by Ryan Dillon. * Lucy Liu plays a human Cinderella in Episode 4802. References * When Miss Piggy is outed as a fake Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper, she flees The Dubonnet Club. In her wake, she leaves behind a glass slipper, found by Kermit who looks to the camera following an analogous moment to that of the Prince in the Cinderella story. * Abby Cadabby's mother is Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother. Abby has also used the word the magic word "allerednic" (Cinderella backward) on occasion, such as in episode 4134. * A pilot for a proposed series was created for the Cinderella story, but never came to full fruition in that form. * Numberella, a Sesame Street parody of Cinderella, was a storybook Gordon read to the kids, which was also acted out by several Anything Muppets. * The Colambo caper "The Lost Slipper Caper," features Colambo helping Cinderella (performed by Louise Gold) figure out what happened to her glass slipper. The Prince shows up with it, and takes Colambo with him to the palace. * The Muppets on Puppets features a unique retelling of the story, with Little Girl Sue in the title role. * In 1980, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy hosted an episode of Great Performances in which they watched the San Francisco Ballet's production of Prokofiev's Cinderella. * Dinosaurs: Classic Tales featured a parody, "Cinderellasaurus". * In the Sesame Street video Let's Eat!: Funny Food Songs, Cinderella's glass slipper is on display at Planet Storybook. Cinderella herself and Prince Charming are also briefly seen passing through the restaurant. * Zoe takes the lead in a version of the "Cinderella" story in the 2004 Sesame Street coloring book, Big Bird's Favorite Fairy Tales. Ernie and Bert play the wicked stepsisters, leaving Zoe home alone while they go to the ball to meet Grover, the Prince. Fairy godmother Rosita helps to put everything right. * Elmo reprises his role as CinderElmo in the 2008 book Storybook ABCs; Abby Cadabby turns a pumpkin into a coach for him. * As Piggy has trouble fitting in a pair of shoes that Kermit likes in episode 423 of The Muppet Show, Floyd Pepper pokes fun at her struggling by referring to her as Cinderella. * Miss Piggy attends a Costume Ball as Cinderella in the short story The Great Dress Disaster. *Miss Piggy, donned in Cinderella's dress and riding in her pumpkin coach, is presented a glass slipper by Taye Diggs in a commercial for the promotion Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. * In The Sesame Street Dictionary, the Sesame Street Players put on a pageant of Cinderella, with Prairie Dawn taking on the lead role (with an illustration by Joe Mathieu). * In Sesame Street Episode 4212, Rosita, Abby, and a penguin are playing princess-roller skating, but the penguin can’t find her second skate. A Prince, played by Paul Rudd, pulls out a glass slipper, but the trio continues to search for the roller skate instead. * Cinderella and her Pumpkin Coach appear in Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book. *''Sesame Street'' Episode 4088 has the Count suggesting that Snuffy make a wish to float in the clouds, since wishing worked for Cinderella. *In Sesame Street Episode 4139, Abby poofs both Peter Piper and Prince Paul Charming (modeled after the Beatle) to Sesame Street, where the Prince searches Hooper's Store to find the foot that fits the glass slipper. * Telly joins Ernie's pretend tea party, for which he invited the Friendly Giant, Cinderella and Super Adventure Boy in episode 3886. * Big Bird reads the Kids a version of Cinderella in Sesame Street Episode 4184. * Prairie Dawn interviews the pumpkin from Cinderella, the beans from Jack and the Beanstalk, and the apple from Snow White in an episode of "Fairy Tales Today." * Savion reads Baby Natasha the story of Cinderella while attempting to get her to fall asleep in Sesame Street Episode 3059. * Maria shows the magic wand and wings that Gabi wore when she played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella in Sesame Street Episode 3926. * A segment of Abby's Flying Fairy School titled "Cinderella Challenge," shows how the class must participate in the "Cinderella Challenge" to gain their Fairy Godmother wings. * Baby Bear draws Cinderella's carriage in the book Love, Elmo. * During a "Sesame Street News Flash," Pinocchio says "My name is Cinderella and for breakfast I ate two dragons!", a lie that makes his nose grow. * In The Sesame Street 1977 Calendar, Cinderella is shown for the month of February. The illustration was reused for The Sesame Street Library Volume 5. * The book Look and Find Muppets features a Cinderella themed page. * The Muppet Babies once again take on the tale in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales. * According to Ernie in a tweet, Cinderella plays for the Fairy Tale Football League. * In Elmo's Alphabet Challenge, Abby's Fairy Fly Pad features a locating application that finds where Cinderella's glass slipper is. Connections *Jason Alexander played Lionel in the 1997 TV musical *Julie Andrews played Cinderella in the 1957 TV musical *Kaye Ballard played stepsister Portia in the 1957 TV musical *Brandy played Cinderella in the 1997 TV musical *Helena Bonham Carter played the Fairy Godmother in the 2015 remake of the Disney version *Mike Douglas played the singing voice of the Prince in the Disney animated film Cinderella (1950) *Fran Drescher was a replacement for Madame in the 2013 Broadway version of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical *Santino Fontana originated the role of Topher in the 2013 Broadway version of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical *Whoopi Goldberg played the Queen in the 1997 TV musical *Edie McClurg played stepsister Bertha in the 1985 Faerie Tale Theatre episode *Rob Paulsen voiced the Grand Duke in various Disney tie-ins, including Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007, direct-to-video), audio books, trailer looping for the 1950 feature, and more *Bernadette Peters played the Stepmother the 1997 TV musical *Vincent Price co-narrated the CBS Radio Workshop episode "Speaking of Cinderella, or If the Shoe Fits" (1956) *Amy Sedaris voiced Cinderella in Shrek the Third (2007) *Jean Stapleton played the Fairy Godmother in the 1985 Faerie Tale Theatre episode *Lesley Ann Warren played Cinderella in the 1965 TV musical __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Muppet Characters Category:Sesame Street Characters Category:Tales from Muppetland Characters Category:Human Characters Category:Fairy Tales Category:Literary References